Sondheim wins prestigious MacDowell medal

FILE - In this April 12, 2004 file photo, Stephen Sondheim gestures during a gathering at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. Sondheim has won one of the top honors in the arts world, the Edward MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement. The MacDowell Colony, the New Hampshire-based artist residency program, announced Sunday that Sondheim has received an award that has been given to Robert Frost and Georgia OíKeeffe among others. The 83-year-old Sondheim is known for such classic musicals as ìA Little Night Musicî and ìInto the Woods.î (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Sondheim has won one of the top honors in the arts world, the Edward MacDowell Medal for lifetime achievement.

The MacDowell Colony, the New Hampshire-based artist residency program, announced Sunday that Sondheim has received an award that has been given to Robert Frost and Georgia O’Keeffe among others. The 83-year-old Sondheim is known for such classic musicals as “A Little Night Music” and “Into the Woods.”

He will accept the medal at an August ceremony.

In a statement issued through the MacDowell Colony, Sondheim called the award a “sort of homecoming,” noting that as a child he used to play compositions by the man for whom the medal and colony are named. Edward MacDowell, who died in 1908, was known for such pieces as “To a Wild Rose.”